They really don't, and that's the whole problem. They are using you as a crap version of wowhead, a tool for searching for enchants.

So just link your book and what's the problem? They can't even search wowhead. How likely are they to be able to successfully figure out which slots don't have enchants, find the enchants they want for those slots, get mats, bring them to you, and do all that before you notice that you've been standing around Dalaran for the past half hour as they have 5 minutes left on their hearthstone and you are not queued for a random or BG, not in a raid forming, not making gold at the AH, and not farming?

They won't go away if you ignore them (not /ignore, just nonresponsive), but they won't waste half an hour of your time as they slowly figure out what they are doing. And then get invited to a raid right as they are about to open trade and hand over what might actually be the correct mats. Yes, they have been busy finding a raid to carry their enchanted selves while you've been patiently waiting, hoping for a 5g tip for a half-dozen enchants.

I am not a pessimist!

A pessimist wouldn't know about scrolls. For a mere 1-4g you can put an enchant on a scroll and never have to deal with this ever again. They don't even have a deposit. You will lose the AH cut, but with proper pricing you'll make far more than you'd get from 5g for half an hour.

"LF Enchanter to do X, have mats"Shift-click that person and if they're in the same city, go get some gold. This person knows what he wants and knows how to get it.

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This happens to Jewelcrafter's, too. "Cut me a gem!""What do you want?""I dunno. What's good.""What stats do you need?""I dunno.""What's you're spec?""What?""What gems do you *have*?""Uhh....""Oh, hey, sorry, family emergency, good luck!"

There's a reason I don't just advert my professions in trade. I like to pick and choose which ones I answer. Specifics of what the person needs is a good one to reply to, especially if they advert that they're offering a tip :)

Enchanting I have almost given up, beyond doing the occasional enchant where they are very specific and in the same city, just to renew my belief that I am wasting my time. But one occasion I had just walked out of the AH, i knew for a fact that the current price of Bladeward scrolls was 50g below cost and had not bothered to make any.

Lf enchanter for bladeward will tip.I told him to go check the AH and buy a scroll, after a discussion his reply was he wanted to use "his" mats to do the enchant and no he would not pay a 20g fixed fee.

Funny enough I am normally pretty happy to do BS pattens as a lot of those are quite rare and I know it can be painful to find someone. But Hint? Dont start spamming trade with wtb ICC Pattern made, offering 20g tip. I whispered him "lol" and kept on using the AH, after his 5th or so repeat people started telling him to stop spamming and to increase his tip to something realistic.

Now, I like helping people - I do it a lot. So when someone in guild asks me for my transmute, and I flat out refuse, I guess it's confusing to them. A guildmate needs a gem transmute, you have yours up - why wouldn't you help them out?

I've tried to explain it in the past (going back to primal transmute days) - but people just don't seem to get it. If my transmute is on a cooldown, it means I have only one opportunity to use it, per day. Say I generally use it to turn 50g of mats into a Cardinal Ruby, which I will then sell for 150g. I can rely on that 100g profit per day from my transmute.

If I give you my transmute, and you tip me 20g, I lose today's opportunity to make 100g - less your tip, so I'm essentially losing 80g. Why on earth would I want to do that, please tell me? Why would I want to throw 80g away like that?

Worse, if I proc 5 rubies, and you give me 100g (20g each), I've just lost 650g. Whee!

But at least I have that warm fuzzy feeling inside, knowing I've helped you out.

to be fair, I've often asked someone to link me enchanting, because wowhead has the wrong consumables listed, very very often. And more than once, I've followed wowheads mats needed for an enchant only to stand next to an enchanter with the wrong mats.

But then again, I never ask someone for their buisness, just a accurate list, so that I can gather my reagents.